I am trying to pick a flight into London or Paris. From past experience does anyone have any recommendations? Is it best to take an overnight flight and arrive in the morning, or is the day flight when you arrive late at night better?

Hi, Lea. I have usually flown at night and arrive in early morning. Since jetlag doesn't bother me much, that works out fine, but it's a hassle about the hotel not being ready, the crowd of arrivees, etc. On this last trip into London we took a BA morning flight from Dulles. Since we had to get up really early - 4:30am - by the time we arrived - 9:00 pm London time - we were frankly ready to go to sleep. And the flight seemed more fun, being awake and alert and not trying to get some sleep. Where possible, I'll do day flights in the future. It does eat up a vacation day, but with a night flight the day is usually spent getting ready to leave, so what's the difference? I'd suggest if jetlag bothers you a lot, take a day flight if available. Have fun.

I once took a BA flight from JFK that departed at 10:10am. I arrived in London at about 8:30pm. It was one of the best flights I had. After transfer to the flat at which I was staying, I was ready to sleep. The next day, no jetlag. I hope this option works for you. It was an agreeable flight and time to fly for me.

You mean you have a choice of when you leave and arrivee? I fly from Atlanta and the earliest flight leaves at 4:15 and still arrives the next morning. I don't really have a choice. <BR>Check the schedule before you make up your mind.<BR><BR>Coming back, I definitely advise taking the earliest flight you can find.<BR><BR>I do not tolerate the return flight as well as I do the one going over. I think it is because the trip is over and there is a let down. Also, the flight is longer in terms of time because of headwinds.<BR>

I have done the day (9 AM) flight from Toronto to London twice recently and found to be a very good way to do it. We were ready to sleep by about 1 AM London time. Sleep-in a bit the next day and you are set. It's quite a civilized way to do it. Too bad there are not more places in Europe that we can get to by day.

As Bob Brown suggested, for 80% of the departure cities in North America, there is no daytime option. and at the other 20% of airports, about 90% of the flights operate overnight.<BR><BR>The main disadvantage of a day flight, in my opinion is that you are paying for a hotel room your very first night, having had &quot;no vacation&quot; earlier that same day - - versus &quot;sleeping&quot; on the overnight flight, and incurring your first lodging expense on the day AFTER your first real day in Europe - - not before.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

to the top, for Lea<BR>

<BR>I guess PA Rex must have taken a survey of all airports in the USA.<BR>80%,90%, 20% nice accurate numbers.<BR>How do you do it Rex????

I like to arrive early (9-10 am), having slept for at least a few hours on the plane over. I take a shower &amp; change after checking in to my hotel, then head out to explore. The first day I'm so excited I can stay active until early evening, and then crash at 8 or 9 pm Euro-time. I wake after 9-10 hours of sleep caught up and ready to go. <BR><BR>Coming back isn't so easy, so I try to allow at least a day at home before returning to work.

This topic has been covered before with pretty much the same response. Most of those who have taken a day flight now swear by them. Night flights continue to be a better choice for those lucky individuals who can sleep soundly on a plane or who aren't bothered by jet lag, You probably know which category you fall into.<BR><BR>If I can afford (time and money) the full day to travel, I'll always pick the dayflight if it's available. WAY more civilized.

&lt;&lt;a survey of all airports in the USA&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>with trans-atlantic departures?<BR><BR>Seems like a fairly short list, to me<BR><BR>BOS, JFK, EWR, PHL, PIT, IAD, BWI<BR>CLT, RDU? ATL, MCO, MIA, FLL?<BR>CLE, CVG, DTW, ORD, MSP, STL<BR>MSY? IAH, DFW, PHX, DEN, SLC<BR>LAX, SFO, LAS, OAK? PDX, SEA<BR><BR>Did I miss any? There also about a half dozen in Canada, Mexico and Cuba.<BR><BR>And how many of those have daytime departures with same day arrivals?<BR>

Who cares how many daytime flights there are? There must be at least ONE available to Lea and she was asking for opinions and experiences<BR>

I prefer overnight flights, even though I can never sleep on planes: After spending 7-10 hours in a sitting position, the last thing I want to do on arrival is go to bed. Also, the excitement of being in a different country keeps me going for many hours before exhaustion sets in.<BR><BR>The biggest problem is when I am going from the USA east coast to western destinations. For many locations, the east-to-west flights are only during the day. I arrive at my destination eager to explore, but am instead forced to go to bed because it is usually too late to do anything else.

Odds are, there is NOT a daytime flight available to Lea and she simply doesn't realize that. Or even if there is, it is one out of twenty departures available from her city, and there are much more likely to be beter bargain seats with an overnight flight.<BR>

I totally agree with sss. I've taken several night flights and never slept much. Arrived exhausted in the early morning. Ugh.<BR><BR>Took one flight during the day, arrived around 6 PM. It was fantastic. I went to the hotel, went to sleep and was feeling fine the next day.

This worked for you, and the cost was an extra night's hotel stay. Isn't that the jist of the argument, generally?<BR>

ttt<BR>